Stainless start decision

R

Remyrw

Joined
Jun 17, 2010
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I realize I am asking for speculation and guesswork here, but I'm hoping to draw on the well of experience and knowledge you all have.

I'm getting ready to start working with stainless and have pretty much settled on CPM154 from Aldo simply because it is a good blend of price and performance for my knives. Due to how heat treating services work it makes sense to do this in batches of one steel and this seems my best fit to start. I also considered S30V, ELMAX, 440C and a few others but the trade offs didn't seem to make sense for a first time run. The steel choice is still flexible, but I'm more concerned with sizing and blade options.

I plan to make primarily two different blades for this first run. As of now, nothing specifically customer requested but a number of buyers have mentioned that they'd be interested in a stainless version once I was making them. This interest didn't trend to either blade so I'm hoping for some advice here. The pictures below are the two general designs. I'm trying to decide whether to get all .140/.156 stuff or get .177/.186 for the larger blades. Likewise, I'm not sure whether I should bias the numbers in favor of one design or the other... My steel budget is limited so I'm basically buying enough for the first batch, grinding and sending them out. I don't want to just buy extra and see how it goes along the way. The next steel order will most likely be more along those lines but not this one.

jdneck4.JPG

or
rwb_hunt1.JPG


What does the community think? Even split between the two blades? More of one of them? All .140/.156 or the thicker stuff for the Lycaon? I've got a couple pieces of ATS34 in the .140/.156 bars, just enough for two knives but it does seem like it's sufficiently thick for the Lycaon, a good middle ground between my current 1/8" and 3/16" options in 1080 and 1084. On the other hand, I don't know how stainless sells. Is there a bias for this kind of thing in terms of what customers prefer? Do you guys think there'd be more interest in the smaller knife in stainless than the larger, or vice versa? For roughly the same investment in steel and heat treating I could make a few more blades which would even out the price difference in the finished products so it's mostly a question of which is likely to sell better.

Anyway, I'm open to advice or just theories and thoughts on the issue. I've been kicking this around a while and figured I should ask people with a lot more experience than I have. In 1080 and 1084 both designs seem to sell fairly equally, I just don't know how that will be effected by the change in steel.
 
wow, 50+ reads and no one's even got an opinion? I'm just wondering about your thoughts on the issue, not hard facts and details :) I could post it in the General Knife Discussion forum I guess. :) Unfortunately my asbestos suit is at the cleaners.
 
I don't think the size makes much difference in whether either one is suitable for stainless. CPM-154 is plenty tough for small-medium size blades. I would go for thinner stock on the smaller one.

They're both very nice designs; I think I would split them evenly. If one sells out faster, you'll know to make more of that one.
 
I would make the small on with thin stock and thicker stock for the larger knife. The CPM steels come with a pretty pitted surface that needs to be removed so these will thin out more. Stainless sells well and I like to confort of knowing I wont get a email about rust removal. CPM 154 is a really good steel and works wells so you should have a couple of nice knives. If I were to pick I would say the larger word sell easier, but, I have been known to be very wrong.

Good Luck
 
Thanks. I definitely am going .140/.156 on the nubilus pattern, I think the next size down is too thin for my design and how folks use it and a little extra thickness over the 1/8" I use in 1084 is easily handled with a bit of distal taper and extra lightening holes in the tang if I find weight or thickness in the blade to be a problem. Personally I think it'll be fine as is, maybe just a hint of distal taper to keep the nice thin cross section up front. I'm still undecided on which thickness to use on the larger pattern, most of them have been 3/16" 1080 so far, but the other option was 1/8" so even the thinner of my CPM154 options is splitting the difference.
ETA- I think Patrick's got a good point, by the time it's all said and done the larger knife is probably best in the thicker steel, the difference isn't huge but it avoids the potential for winding up thinner than I'd like. A little extra over the minimum isn't the end of the world, too little is a problem.

Ok, +2 for the even split and see what sells from there. :) (edited to add Patrick's vote)

Ya know, it never quite clicked, my two pieces of ATS34 are 5/32 1.5" so that's two Lycaons out of that thickness. So I can just split the order on sizes and still try the Lycaon at both thicknesses. Sure, some are CPM154 and some are ATS34 but they'll heat treat together and I can get a feel for how the design works in that thickness, problem solved.

Order as it stands would be 4' of 1"x5/32" and 4' of 1.5"x3/16" cpm154. When added to my ATS34 that's enough for 14 blades. I'd love to order more, but stainless isn't cheap and I have to factor in heat treating... It's a big jump in overhead compared to 1080 or 1084 and doing my own heat treating. :)
 
I like them both. But I'm gonna vote for #2. I believe the handle / blade proportions are better on the 2nd knife, maybe extend the slabs forward just a bit. It also flows better.

EA
 
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